HINDU
CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS - WHAT
THEY DENOTE Page Two

We
Hindus have so many Gods to choose from and that to a lot of
people is confusing.

I,
however, believe that each God appeals to a certain
characteristic in a person. Hence If your personality is
inclined towards Duty as the main requisite for spiritual
advancement your deity would probably be Sri Rama or if you
are playful yet intellectual and loving who but Lord Krishna?
To a warrior Durga Mata would appeal and to an ascetic, Lord
Siva.

Each
day of the week is consecrated to a certain God or Deity.
Monday is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Tuesday to Ganapathy,
Thursday to Goddess Laxmi, Friday to Santoshi Mata and Lalsai,
Saturday to Hanuman.

Different
families observe different days to fast and say their prayers
depending upon their personal deity.

During
medieval times even the Northern Europeans had consecrated
each day of the week to a certain God.

Sunday
as the name itself states was dedicated to the Sun.

Northern
Europeans’ name for the moon was ‘Mona’ hence Monday.
Tuesday was dedicated to the God of war Tiw, Wednesday to the
God Woden. Hence Wednesday is spelt with ‘D’ silent.
Thursday for the God ‘Thor’ who the northern Europeans
believed was responsible for lightning and thunder. Friday was
dedicated to the Gentle Goddess "Frigg’ who had a
control over nature, love and marriage. Saturday was the day
of Saturn, which the Romans believed was the god of farming.

Not
so long ago, amongst the Hindus it was part of the early
morning spiritual to give water to the Sun. The ladies would
raise their cupped hands full of water and quench the sun’s
thirst, so to speak. Needless to say the earth’s
gravitational pull would prove stronger and the earth would
get the water instead. However, in the process the ladies eyes
benefited. Looking at the sun’s early morning rays through
the film of water which would fall from their cupped hands,
their eyes would become stronger and brighter.

Our
elders repeatedly tell us not to cut our nails at night.
During the old days there used to be no electricity. If you
cut your nails you might just hurt yourself.

We
were also told not to sweep at night as otherwise Laxmi
(Goddess of wealth) would leave! How literally true that is
Again because of no electricity, chances are that you might
just sweep off something of tremendous value that may have
been dropped during the day, and would you not call that Laxmi
leaving?

There
are two beliefs to what happens when you jingle keys. One is
that thieves will come. True, since you are tempting them.
Another is that you will probably have a fight-again true-if
you don’t believe it, try jingling keys and making a racket
while somebody in your family is trying to rest!

Superstition
finds a place not only within Indian culture, but also within
the western world.

Amongst
the western superstitions the most common is the no. 13. In
its original form it was considered unlucky to seat 13 at a
table because of its association with the last supper when
Christ and his apostles were present including Judas Iscariot,
Jesus’ betrayer.

13
at a table had proved unlucky earlier than Christianity. In
Norse mythology, 13 Gods were at the table when the spirit of
strife appeared, fought and killed Baldur who was a favourite
amongst Gods.

Touching
wood for luck originates from the early belief that every tree
was inhabited by a certain God. They would touch the tree for
luck or protection. Now, since there are no trees in easy
reach the people touch wood and some even touch their head,
considering in good humour, that their brain is a block of
wood!

It
has been considered unlucky to walk under ladders for fear
that a tool or a pot of paint may fall upon your head. Some
Christians considered it a blasphemy, as they believed that
the person was breaking the triangle (Christian symbol of
Trinity).

Yet
others were reminded of the gallows, when the person convicted
would drop from the ladder to the ropes and to their death.

Spilling
salt has always been considered unlucky because it was used
for preserving meat during winter.

We
have from times immemorial been interested in trying to tap
the unknown and we have tried to dolt through palmistry,
Astrology etc.

Each
person has an exclusive pattern in his hands consisting of
loops and arches and according to palmists it is
scientifically explainable.

Nerves
terminate in the dermis layer of the skin, so whenever our
hand touches fire, an automatic nerve activity is produced.
Warning is then sent to the brain and the brain sends back a
split instant order to remove the hand from danger.

Similarly
in the hand there are millions of nerve endings. Each nerve
ending corresponding nerve fibre ends in some part of the
brain.

In
the case of shock or excessive joy a disturbance is caused in
the cerebral cells. The nerve fibres in that particular
portion of the brain react and so do the corresponding nerve
endings in the hand by contracting or expanding and causing a
minute indentation caused by the violent emotion.

Thus
lines are formed. The emotional impulses are shown in the
formation of the heart line and the logical abilities in those
of the head line.

The
health of the subject can also be determined by a look at the
hand.

The
distribution of the ridges is determined by the arrangement of
nerve endings and sweat glands. Certain toxins will cause
abnormal opening of the sweat glands and so may cause
alterations in the actual formation of the ridges.

Chemical
deficiency is the fundamental cause of most diseases and these
produce various malformations of nail growth.

Besides,
doctors now believe that there is a very close connection
between most skin diseases (like acne, dermatitis, warts) and
mental states.

Astrology
is based on the presumption that celestial bodies have an
effect on life and events here on earth.

I
have mentioned earlier that the moon has an effect on the
fluid in our bodies there by having an effect on our emotions.

Similarly
we also tend to respond to changes the sun produces in the
earth’s magnetic field.

Certain
critics are forced to admit that the position of certain
planets in our solar system at the time of birth has something
to do with the profession of the child follows in future.

It
is possible that at the moment of our birth the position of
different planets does have an impact on us, forming our
character, mode of behavior and thereby our destiny.

The
position of the planets, maybe symbolic of some much larger
cosmic pattern of energy in the cosmos, of which the planets
and the earth are just parts.

There
are some people who are able to tell a person’s character
just by looking at his face or physical structure. This is
called physiognomy.

We
all know that the physical attributes of a man are related to
the climate in which he lives. People who live near the
equator are dark skinned so that their pigment protects the
deeper layers of their skin from the scorching sun. Whereas
people living in colder climates have a fairer skin so that
they may take full advantage of the sun to form vitamin D in
their skins.

The
Eskimos are short and fat to conserve heat since they live in
the colder regions of the earth whereas the Africans are tall
and thin as this gives them more body area to lose heat
easier.

It
is however also reasonable to deduce that just like the
physique of a man is related to the environment in which he
lives so certain features are formed denoting his
characteristics. Emotions do play a part in the formation of
the features of a person.

Generalisations
have been made in which it is claimed that a dimple in the
chin indicates a friendly and warm disposition, thick eyebrows
indicate a person who can be trusted, etc..

The
above is debatable: however the beauticians tell us that to
keep our skin young and away from wrinkles we ought to massage
our face with an upward motion.

A
cheerful disposition and an optimistic attitude does that to
your face naturally. Sulking and being resentful has the
opposite effect as the chin muscles sag and frowning brings
wrinkles near the forehead.

Indians
have always been inclined towards people with psychic powers
like clairvoyance. Intuition, telepathy etc., and devout
Hindus tend to worship such characters as divine human beings
with God-given gifts.

The
scientists are doing research into the reasons why and the
manners by which these feats are accomplished but they have
not been able to reach any conclusive deduction; however they
agree that the above qualities stem from the subconscious mind
and it is proven that we use only a minute part of the
enormous brain of unlimited capacity that we possess.

As
a matter of fact, according to Lyall Watson ‘We are like a
small family of squatters who have taken over a vast place but
find no need to move beyond the comfortable, serviced
apartment in one corner of the basement."

Coming
back to the psychic powers, though these may be gifts,
achieved due to spiritual advancement and the practice of
yoga, more often than not, they are just techniques which have
been practiced diligently and acquired, and may have nothing
to do with spiritual advancement.

As
a matter of fact, though these people with miraculous powers
may have learned something of amazing scientific and
psychological interest they may have even regressed in the
path of love, if ego has come in with the performance of these
extraordinary feats.

These
people forget the greatest miracle that life itself is, and
tend to make spiritual things material; while a truly
spiritual man always looks at material things as spiritual.

Coleridge
states that in everything spiritual there is an element of
beauty which is truth, and which we find in faith but which is
lacking in fanaticism and superstition.

Besides
the beliefs that have been mentioned already, there seem to be
other superstitions that seemingly make no sense. Those
customs, I believe, do not stem from the Vedic period but have
been relatively recent additions with no scientific foundation
whatsoever.

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